Optical character recognition (OCR) is a mechanical or electronic translation of scanned images of handwritten, typewritten or printed text, graphics or symbols into machine-encoded text. OCR is a growing field of research in computer vision and augmented reality applications. Computer vision allows a device to perceive the environment in its vicinity. Computer vision enables applications in augmented reality by allowing the sensory input from the end-user's interaction with the real world extend into the virtual world. In a real life example application, computer vision-enabled OCR may help visually disabled individuals in perceiving written text and symbols in the field of view of a camera of a personal mobile device such as a smart phone.
Transformation of the analog to digital age has also fueled the application of OCR and improvements in the technology. Most file cabinets and large docketing systems are in transformation to digital searchable media. With all the advances in OCR technology, OCR is still not suitable for mobile devices with limited processing power. Unlimited recognition of characters and symbols from the camera image captured by the mobile device is difficult to process due to the enormous selection of words, characters, and symbols in different languages and different cultures. The computational complexity is also an issue since the OCR needs to run in real time or close to real time on a mobile device to support computer vision and augmented reality applications.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems.